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Donald Cabana Obituary

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Donald A. Cabana, a longtime corrections official who oversaw executions as warden at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in the 1980s and later came to oppose the death penalty, died Monday. He was 67.

Cabana died at Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg after a long illness, the Mississippi Department of Corrections said.

Cabana spent 40 years in corrections, including stints as warden at Parchman and commissioner of the state Department of Corrections. He was chairman of the criminal justice programs at the University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University.

He worked as warden at the Harrison County jail. He also worked in the Missouri corrections system.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Hattiesburg with burial in Highland Cemetery.

Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher B. Epps said Tuesday in a statement that Cabana worked for the Department of Correc tions when Epps was a correctional officer at Parchman and after Epps became commissioner.

"Dr. Cabana was well-known and well-respected in the corrections community," Epps said. "We were extremely fortunate to have obtained his service and commitment. I remember like it was yesterday when Dr. Cabana was superintendent at Parchman and I was a correctional officer. Don was a legend and an icon to our profession."

In the 1980s, Cabana supervised executions of two men convicted of capital murder, Edward Earl Johnson and Connie Ray Evans.

In his memoir, "Death At Midnight: The Confessions of an Executioner," Cabana recounted his experiences with death row inmates and how he came to oppose the death penalty. In the book's preface, Cabana wrote that he spent most of his career as a prison administrator convinced of the need for capital punishment.

"I had always been something of a bureaucratic utopian, fully committed to the notion that if the government d eemed capital punishment necessary then it must be so.... Not until I was confronted with supervising and carrying out the ultimate retribution did I begin to question the process in earnest.

"The execution of Edward Earl Johnson served as a milestone, an event at which to pause and wonder. But it was the execution of Connie Ray Evans that became, for me, a personal moment of truth," Cabana wrote.

Cabana said he and Evans had become friends during the inmate's years on death row. Cabana said in his book that he went as far to ask the governor to commute Evans' death sentence, which was denied.

Cabana said he "violated my cardinal rule never to get close to your clients," allowing himself to befriend Evans, who was put to death for killing a convenience store clerk in 1981.

A BBC documentary in 1987, "Fourteen Days in May," followed the two weeks leading up to the Johnson's execution, including Cabana's role as warden.

In testimony before a Minnesota le gislative committee in 1995, Cabana said: "However we do it, in the name of justice, in the name of law and order, in the name of retribution, you . . . do not have the right to ask me, or any prison official, to bloody my hands with an innocent person's blood.... If we wrongfully incarcerate somebody, we can correct that wrong. But if we execute an innocent person by mistake, what is it we're supposed to say - 'Oops'?"

Cabana later wrote "The History of Capital Punishment in Mississippi," which outlined the change from one method of execution to another: public hanging, electric chair, gas chamber and lethal injection.

Survivors include his wife, Miriam; three sons, three daughters, six grandchildren and a brother.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Donald A. Cabana, a longtime corrections official who oversaw executions as warden at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in the 1980s and later came to oppose the death penalty, died Monday. He was 67.

Cabana died at Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg after a long illness, the Mississippi Department of Corrections said.

Cabana spent 40 years in corrections, including stints as warden at Parchman and commissioner of the state Department of Corrections. He was chairman of the criminal justice programs at the University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University.

He worked as warden at the Harrison County jail. He also worked in the Missouri corrections system.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Hattiesburg with burial in Highland Cemetery.

Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher B. Epps said Tuesday in a statement that Cabana worked for the Department of Correc tions when Epps was a correctional officer at Parchman and after Epps became commissioner.

"Dr. Cabana was well-known and well-respected in the corrections community," Epps said. "We were extremely fortunate to have obtained his service and commitment. I remember like it was yesterday when Dr. Cabana was superintendent at Parchman and I was a correctional officer. Don was a legend and an icon to our profession."

In the 1980s, Cabana supervised executions of two men convicted of capital murder, Edward Earl Johnson and Connie Ray Evans.

In his memoir, "Death At Midnight: The Confessions of an Executioner," Cabana recounted his experiences with death row inmates and how he came to oppose the death penalty. In the book's preface, Cabana wrote that he spent most of his career as a prison administrator convinced of the need for capital punishment.

"I had always been something of a bureaucratic utopian, fully committed to the notion that if the government d eemed capital punishment necessary then it must be so.... Not until I was confronted with supervising and carrying out the ultimate retribution did I begin to question the process in earnest.

"The execution of Edward Earl Johnson served as a milestone, an event at which to pause and wonder. But it was the execution of Connie Ray Evans that became, for me, a personal moment of truth," Cabana wrote.

Cabana said he and Evans had become friends during the inmate's years on death row. Cabana said in his book that he went as far to ask the governor to commute Evans' death sentence, which was denied.

Cabana said he "violated my cardinal rule never to get close to your clients," allowing himself to befriend Evans, who was put to death for killing a convenience store clerk in 1981.

A BBC documentary in 1987, "Fourteen Days in May," followed the two weeks leading up to the Johnson's execution, including Cabana's role as warden.

In testimony before a Minnesota le gislative committee in 1995, Cabana said: "However we do it, in the name of justice, in the name of law and order, in the name of retribution, you . . . do not have the right to ask me, or any prison official, to bloody my hands with an innocent person's blood.... If we wrongfully incarcerate somebody, we can correct that wrong. But if we execute an innocent person by mistake, what is it we're supposed to say - 'Oops'?"

Cabana later wrote "The History of Capital Punishment in Mississippi," which outlined the change from one method of execution to another: public hanging, electric chair, gas chamber and lethal injection.

Survivors include his wife, Miriam; three sons, three daughters, six grandchildren and a brother.

Guest Book Highlights

"I worked as Don's assistant during 1980-1981 at the Alachua county corrections department in Gainesville, fl. Bright, funny guy. Sincere man, I new his wife sue very well. We would occasionally have dinner at each others homes in Gainesville. Don..."- Bob Roberts (valley)

"Happy birthday daddy!! You would have been 69 today!! I miss you an mama more each day. So many times I have picked up the phone and started to dual tour number. I know you and mama are together in Heaven, enjoying eternity together. Happy..."- Angela Cabana (Hattiesburg, MS)

"Where do I start? The last year has been a year to remember and a year to forget. One year ago today my family's lives changed forever. We said good bye to one of the strongest most compassionate person we all knew. My daddy. I remember thinking..."- Angela Cabana (Hattiesburg, MS)

"Words can't express how I feel about Dr. Cabana. I first met him at Parchman and then again at USM. He guided me through my academic journey and then gave myself and my wife a job after I graduated. While, at Harrison County, I expressed to him..."

"Father's Day. I never thought this could get any harder. I miss my dad so very much. Everyday I keep looking for him to come walk in the door. I keep waiting. I know my dad is in Heaven waiting on my mom, who will soon be joined with him again. ..."- Angela Cabana (Hattiesburg, MS)

Published online on October 8, 2013 courtesy of Hattiesburg - Hattiesburg.

Dr. Donald Arthur Cabana, of Hattiesburg, passed away on the afternoon of Monday, October 7, 2013, surrounded by his loved ones. Services will be at 1:30 p.m., Friday, October 11, 2013,...
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